The present invention is related to a horizontal order-picker with an operating platform and a load section which is provided for accommodating at least one order-picking container.
During the process of order picking, the operator drives the order-picker to a predetermined location, from where the goods to be commissioned can be put into the order-picking container. In the technical language of the field, this location is designated as pick-up point or pick. Statistics furnish evidence that for the overall commissioning process, approximately 60% of the time is spent for commissioning, namely for picking up the goods from the storage facility and stowing them into the order-picking containers, and 40% for travelling between the pick-up points. At big storage facilities, in which several millions of goods are commissioned per week, statistics yielded the result that each second of time saving in commissioning results in quite significant cost-saving with respect to the year.
In the conventional commissioning process, the operator has to cover the distance between the pick-up point and the order-picking container several times, as well as one time that between the order-picking container and the operating platform of the horizontal order-picker. This movement between the three points is time-consuming.
From the USA, a horizontal order-picker is known with a function in which the driver jumps out of the travelling vehicle, and the vehicle continues to travel a certain distance automatically by the blocking of the brake. Thus, the order-picking container which is normally situated behind the operator in the travel direction, is brought nearer to the position of the driver. Such a function, where a driver leaves the travelling vehicle, is not compatible with German and European safety regulations for floor conveyors.